From the Beginning
by sami2196
Summary: Sami is a freshman at UCLA when her friend introduces her to the one and only Darren Criss. This story starts before the fame of Glee. Will she stay by his side or will the pressure of a rising star by her side scare her away? FIXED CHAPTERS!
1. Hazel Eyes

My alarm clock goes off at 6:30 telling me it's time to get up. It's a cold Thursday morning in LA as I get up, brush my teeth, put on some clothes, put on barely any makeup and walk out the door. I head to my 1st class of the day, introduction to film. I'm a freshman at UCLA and I'm majoring in television and production. Walking in a see one of my good friends Sami as she waves me over.

"Hey Al" she says while checking her phone and then smiling.

"Hey Sam, let me guess, Joe?" She had met this guy, Joe on her Thanksgiving break to Michigan. She hasn't shut up about him since. I don't really get what she wants from that relationship. I think there are way too many movies that tell you a long distance relationship does not work, but whatever, it makes her happy.

"Of course, who else. Did I tell you he's coming this weekend?"

"Only for the 15th time, but please tell me again."

"Shut up. Anyway, I can't wait! I haven't seen him in so long! I just want to see him and hug him and-"

"Sam! You barely know the guy…"

"Umm I basically text him every single day. I could freakin take a quiz on him and score perfectly."

"Hmm ok Sure…"

We didn't talk anymore because the class began. The days passed by very fast. Sami finally got to see Joe again and wouldn't stop talking about him in class on Monday morning.

"Ugh then after the beach he took me to meet his friends who live here in LA. They were so nice. Joe is staying in their apartment while he's here."

"That's nice" I said half asleep, not really listening. Come on, it was 8 in the morning on a Monday.

"Yeah and he really wants to meet you, since I talk about you like all the time"

"Mmm me too"

"Yeah his friends are having like a movie night thing and asked me to bring you. You wanna go?"

"When?"

"Tommorow night around 6ish?"

"K well you are picking me up and driving me there."

"Fine sure thing. Yay! I'm excited!"

Tuesday rolled by and I was getting ready from the movie night. I had to admit I was kinda nervous. I was going to be watching movies in a stranger's home with 3 guys I didn't know. God, the things I do for Sami. Suddenly someone knocked on my dorm.

"Come in"

"Hey girl, you ready?"

"Yeah let me get my boots on. Do we need to bring anything?"

"Well I got a shit load of candy, Joe didn't say we needed to but come on it's a movie night."

"Ok ready"

"Lets go"

We get in the car and Sami starts driving . I start asking Sami about these guys.

"They're friends of Joes from the University of Michigan. They graduated and moved here recently. They are both aspiring actors."

"Oh boy…Actors"

"Don't be all stereotypical on me. They are really awesome"

"Fine. I'll give it a try."

"Yay! And we are here." Sami says while parking in front of an apartment complex. "And Al, they are pretty cute. Maybe you fall in love with one of them and then you guys get together! Oooo and they are best friends and we are best friends and then we can plan double weddings and then-"

"Holy shit Sami, you need to breath. And anyway I don't see myself dating an actor, not my type." I say while Sami knocks on the door.

"Mmm we will see about that"

Then the door opens and I suddenly see the most beautiful pair of hazel eyes I have ever seen in my entire life.

"Hi, you must be Allie. I'm Darren."


	2. Movie Night

Those eyes. A mixture of green and a light caramel color made up his beautiful eyes that were staring right back at me. Oh and the hair. Those crazy but beautiful curls that hung just below his eyebrows. Then I shifted towards the stubble. God, I usually disliked stubble on men but on Darren it just looked so sexy.

"Umm Allie?" Sami suddenly stopped my trance. Oh shit... I had been staring. How awkward.  
>"Umm yeah. Sorry, I thought you reminded me of someone." I tried to play it off.<br>"No its all cool, why don't you guys come in?" He said stepping aside. As we walked in someone came up to Sami, swooping her off her feet and spinning her around. He seemed 3 times the size of Sami with big muscular arms gripping her waist.  
>"I'm guessing that is Joe." I whispered<br>"Yup, that's him alright." Darren told me. Looking at the couple that was now making out in front of us.  
>"Umm Sam..." I tried to get her attention which actually worked, as they looked up at us.<br>"Oh I'm sorry... I'm Joe and you must be the famous Allie" Joe said, extending his hand towards me which I gratefully took. I looked at piercing blue eyes and smiled. He was cute, but not my type, on the other hand the one right next-"  
>"Hey Al you are doing it again" Sami whispered in my ear.<br>"Oh hey Joe. Its really nice to meet you. I feel like I've known you forever since she talks about every chance she gets."  
>"Hahaha it goes both ways"<br>"HELLO" I turned around to see a talk skinny man which dark hair and a small mustache creeping up on his upper lip.  
>"Hi, you must be Joey?"<br>"Yeah, and you're Allie right?"  
>"Yup that's me"<br>"We have heard a lot about you from that one over there" Joey said, pointing at Sami.  
>"Well I hope it was all ok"<br>"Mmm nothing too bad..." Sami said shrugging  
>"Huh yeah right, anyway, what movie are we watching?" I asked<br>"Well we should take a vote because we cant really agree."  
>"Yeah Joey and I want an action movie but Darren wants a Disney movie" I hear Joe tell Sami looking at her with puppy dog eyes, still gripping her waist.<br>"Mmmm I don't know... I guess I'm going with Joes pick."  
>"Awesome! What about you Allie?"<br>"Are you kidding? Allie is a huge Disney freak! Of course she will pick the Disney option." Sami says, making me blush.  
>"No way! Your a Disney freak too?!" Darren questions me with wide eyes.<br>"Well yeah. I love Disney. I'm guessing you are too?"  
>"Umm Darren is obsessed. He even sings Disney covers when he has gigs." Joey tells me.<br>"Oh I didn't know you sing. Sami just told me that you guys were actors." I said directing my attention to Darren and Joey. Ok well mostly to Darren but whatever.  
>"Umm well we are trying to be to be actors, but we also sing. Darren here works at a restaurant doing gigs." Joey says. Well shit, he's not just and actor. He sings.<br>"Mmm yeah. You can come and watch one day if you want. And of course, you to Sami." He says looking just at me.  
>"Yeah that would be really cool. Do you write your own songs or only do covers?" I asked, interested.<br>"Well I have a few covers but mostly from musicals we do in our productions." He responded like I knew what he was talking about.  
>"Umm you guys have a production?" I asked with a confused look on my face.<br>"Ohh shit sorry. I'm talking to you like you know who we are. Mmmm I'm not an asshole, its just we told Sami and I thought she had maybe mentioned it and-"  
>"Darren slow down! Its fine. I just wanted to know more about these productions you talked about"<br>"Well we started a theater company called Starkid productions in the beginning of this year. We decided to become a company after we did a musical parody of Harry Potter. It got a huge response on Youtube, so we did a sequel."  
>"Oh that's fucking awesome! I love Harry Potter! Are you all in it?"<br>"Yeah, and the rest of the company just moved to Chicago."  
>"Well I will have to watch them on Youtube one of these days." I told him smiling. He smiled at me and I swear we had a moment until a certain someone...<br>"Ok now that you know what Starkid is we need to chose a movie. I want to eat this candy!" Sami rudely interrupted our moment holding up her bag full of candy.  
>"Ok well I vote for Joes too" Joey says<br>"Well I guess we are watching Die Hard." Joe says, leading Sami to the couch.  
>Darren noticed my pout and said, "Don't worry, we'll watch a Disney movie together another day." He smiled and winked before turning towards the couch and sitting down. I was sorta stunned. Was he flirting?<br>"Al come on!" Sami called from the couch. I walked over there and saw that there was only one seat left. Right between Allie and Darren. I hesitate for a second but then Darren pats the seat, signaling for me to sit there. I slowly sit in between them and tense up when I feel Darren's side next to mine. As the movie starts I feel Darren's eyes on me, I look up and he directs his eyes towards the movie. Sami notices my tension and whispers,  
>"Stop being so tense. Relax girly."<br>I just look at her, as she snuggles back up to Joe. They really are cute. I start relaxing. letting my back fall towards the couch. I feel Darren's arm resting on the top of the couch and immediately stop, but he then reassures me by putting his arm around me. He looks at me and grins. I have to be honest my heart kinda melted. I mean this guy is really cute, he sings, he loves Disney and Harry Potter, and he's a big sweetheart. What more can you ask for?


	3. His Voice

I woke up pretty satisfied with the events that had occurred last night. After the movie, we were all pretty tired so we decided to call it a night. Before leaving I exchanged numbers with all 3 guys. I had to admit it was a pretty good night, especially when you have a beautiful, muscular arm around your shoulders. That right, he didn't move it the whole movie. I do my usual morning routine and get to my calculus class. In the middle of the boring lecture my cell phone screen lit up.  
>Text Message from Darren: Hey!<br>Me: Hello  
>Darren: How are you this wonderful morning?<br>Me: Stuck in a boring calculus class. U?  
>Darren: Oooooo don't say that math is FUN! All those big numbers and complicated word problems are a joy to solve.<br>Me: You don't even believe that...  
>Darren: Yeah, you're right...I'm just pitying you.<br>Me: Wow thanks  
>Darren: No prob ;)<br>Anyway I wanted to know if you were free tonight?  
>Me: Yeah I am why?<br>Darren: Well I wanted to know if you wanted to come watch me play?  
>Me: Oooo I'm interested<br>Darren: So is that a yes?  
>Me: Yup. Just to let you know my expectations are pretty high.<br>Darren: Well then, I hope I don't let you down  
>Me: We will see. So when and where.<br>Darren: Well Joe and Sami are going too. Joe said he could pick you up when he picks up Sami if you wanted.  
>Me: Awesome. I'll ask Sami for the details.<br>Darren: Sound good... Cant wait to see you there :)  
>Me: See you later!<br>Oh God, I just made plans with Darren. Is this a date? No, it cant be. Sami and Joe are going with me so we wont be alone. Oh shit, but they are a couple. What does this mean? Does he like me because I surely like him...as a friend. Yes, he is my friend... that has beautiful hazel eyes that just make you melt every time you look into them and that gorgeous smile that makes his lips look even more irresistible and his hair is jus- SNAP OUT OF IT! He is your friend. You are going to go watch him play with other friends. Nothing else.

After a long day of classes you head back to your dorm where you find Sami laying on your bed.  
>"Hey Sam" you said, putting your bag down.<br>"Hey Al. Whatcha doing?"  
>"I've been staring at your ceiling for the past hour. The more you look at it the more objects you find. I've found a flower and like 3 bunnies."<br>"You and your imagination..."  
>" That why I'm majoring in art. Duh. Anyway, you are going with us right?"<br>" To watch Darren play?"  
>"Yeah"<br>"Yup I am. What time is Joe picking is up"  
>"In like 30 minutes so you better get dressed. I'm here to give you a second opinion on what you choose. Your welcome."<br>" Umm you definitely haven't done this before. I though you liked the way I dress."  
>" I do, but this is a special occasion. You have to impress him."<br>"Who?"  
>"Darren that's who" Sami said looking at me with a small smirk on her face. Well Shit, it was that obvious huh?<br>" I have no idea what you are talking about" I responded while turning towards my closet. The expression on my face would have given me up in second.  
>" Oh please Al! You cant fool me. I totally saw the way you were looking at him."<br>" I wasn't looking at him in anyway"  
>" Yeah right." Sami stood up and went to my side. "You remind me of someone my ass! You were just taking that time to check him out."<br>"Shut up Sam. Darren is my friend now. I'm going to support him as a friend like you and Joe."  
>"Yeah but Joe and I weren't the ones in Darren's arms last night..."<br>"Sami! Shut up and help me pick out something."  
>"Whatever you say future Mrs. Criss."<br>"I hate you"  
>"Aww I love you too!"<br>cgi/set?id=90818792

We got to the restaurant a and sat at a table near the front of the small stage. While we waited for Darren to go on we got some appetizers that were mostly consumed by Joe. Finally, I saw an adorable head of curls heading towards the stage. As soon as he sat down and adjusted his mic, he look through the crowd until he found our table. He looked at me and smiled before speaking.  
>"Hello everyone, I'm Darren Criss and I will be your entertainment for tonight."<br>I was a bit startled by the amount of applause that came from behind me. I hadn't really realized the huge crowd that had gathered after we came in. Some even had shirts and posters with Darren's name and face plastered on them.  
>"Well this first song is by the amazing Elton John himself, so I hope I'll do it justice."<br>He began started playing the intro to "Your Song" on his guitar a huge smile spread across my lips. That song was my favorite song in the whole wide world. I knew every verse and never got tired of it even though I had listened to it a million times. He finally opened his mouth to sing the first verse and my eyes almost popped out of your head. His voice was pure gold. I just starred up at him in awe while he sang his own version of "Your Song" which was just beautiful. While singing the chorus he looked me and I quickly snapped my jaw shut and smiled at him.  
>"I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words. How wonderful life is while your in my world." he finished and everyone broke out into applause.<br>"Thanks everyone. Now I always play something Disney because it one of the best things created, but this one specifically goes out to a Disney lover out in the audience tonight." he says winking at you. Holy crap, my face is getting red... What the hell do I do?! Sam nudged my side, wagging her eyebrows up and down.  
>"Look at this stuff isn't it neat?"<br>Does Darren have my playlist or is he just freaking psychic!? He is now singing one of my favorite Disney songs! AHHHHHH why? Everything he does make me like him even more. As a friend. I should just get that tattooed somewhere as a reminder.  
>"I wanna be where the people are"<br>It was just amazing how into the song he was. Again his rendition of the song on the acoustic was genius. He would make these weird but cute faces every time he would go high which were just priceless. This man was something.  
>"Part of your world."<p> 


	4. Fellings?

"Thank you so much guys"  
>After finishing his set, Darren stepped down and started to approach our table.<br>"Hey... so, what did you think?"  
>"Ummm why haven't you earned a Grammy yet?"<br>"Hahaha well I guess you liked my mediocre singing. Does it deserve a hug?"  
>"Come here" I said while pulling him in for a hug. His head rested on my shoulder which made his curls softly graze my neck. Ohhh and that cologne, I just cant take it anymore! I forced myself to pull away. He looked at me with a gorgeous smile on his face and was about to say something when someone behind him spoke.<br>"Excuse me, Darren?"  
>Behind him were a group a girls with tee shirts that said Darren Criss is Supermegafoxyawesomehot. I smirked at that and started watching how Darren interacted with his fans. He really took his time with them, by learning their names and asking the most random questions. Of course, he also used the Darren effect, making all of them blush at some point. He then signed all their shirts and took pictures with them. He finally said goodbye and he turned to you with a smile plastered on his face.<br>"You just made their week" I said nudging him on the shoulder.  
>"Nah. Its the other way around. They made mine."<br>"They literally almost died when you came on stage let alone when you put your arms around them."  
>"I just feel like its a miracle they listen to my music let alone come here to listen to me live."<br>"Darren, you're selling your self short. You have it and you are going places." I said putting my hand on his shoulder.  
>"Thanks Al, that means a lot" He says while placing his hand on top of mine, slowly caressing it. I looked into his eyes which were already looking back. Why did he have to look at me with those eyes?! Does he know what those eyes do to me... And like if it wasn't on cue, someone cleared their throat.<br>"Hmmmph. Guys... we are still here."  
>Ohhhh Sam... Always ruining a moment. I quickly moved away from Darren to see Sam and Joe looking up at us from their seats. I quickly give Sam a death glare while she gives me an I told you so smirk. I turn towards Darren again.<br>"Well I have to get going. Thanks again for the invite." I said , avoiding his eyes. I then turned towards the door and headed towards it.  
>"But Allie, I drove you here!" Joe shouted towards my direction, but I pretended not to hear him. I was now only 5 feet away from the door. Ok you got this, just push the door open. I put my hand on the door but not before feeling a hand on my shoulder. Damn, so close. I turn around and meet those beautiful hazel eyes again.<br>"Hey, are you ok? Why are you leaving so soon?"  
>"Ohh umm..I have an exam tomorrow and I should get some sleep." When I said this his face fell a bit.<br>"Oh... ok then can I at least have a hug good bye?"  
>"Your a big hugger aren't you?" I said. This made him smirk a bit before pulling me into hug. This time I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck<br>and his cologne infiltrated my body a bit stronger this time. God, it was like heaven.  
>"Thanks for coming. It really means a lot to me." He whispered into my ear. His voice trailed down my spine making me lose my voice. I just nodded into his neck before letting go. I met his gaze for the last time and headed out. I caught a cab that took me straight to my dorm. Once I got there I didn't even bother changing out of my clothes, I just laid on my bed drifting off thinking about Darren.<p> 


	5. Problem

There I was, sitting on Darren's lap. I had my fingers intertwined in his hair, playing around with his luscious curls. He was looking at me with those heartwarming eyes and smiling. I smiled back as he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me closer. He starts to lean into me and-  
>"ALLIE MARIE!" Sami shouted in my freaking ear. I shot right up and looked at her with a very annoyed look.<br>"What the hell Sam! Its 3 in the morning!"  
>"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why did you just leave?"<br>"Shhhh Sam! You will wake up Stephanie!" I looked over to my roommate who was on her 3rd dream.  
>"What happened back there?"<br>"I was tired and I have a test tomorrow. Now leave me alone" I mumbled while laying back down, pulling the covers over my head.  
>"Al! You guys were doing so well. He really likes you. Just go for it." Sami says while pulling the covers back down and sitting next to me.<br>"He doesn't like me Sam"  
>"Are you serious!? Did you not see the googly eyes he gave you while performing. It was like you two were the only two people in the room!"<br>"Whatever Sam, let me sleep."  
>"No Al, is this because of...you know"<br>"Yes Sam, its because of my problem."  
>"Al don't call it a problem, its a-"<br>"Problem...a fucking disgusting problem."  
>"Al, he wont care"<br>"Yeah, he will!"  
>"Answer me this: Do you like him?"<br>"Yes, he's a great friend and w-"  
>"No Al, do you LIKE him?"<br>"YES Sam I do. Happy!?"  
>"Ecstatic. Listen, you like him, he likes you. Its that simple."<br>"No its not! Even if there is the slightest chance he likes me, it wont last long."  
>"Al, you are the only one that sees yoursel-"<br>"Samantha. I will not go any further with him than friends. If he does like me, he will get over it when he finds out my problem. We will stay friends and be ok. That's all I'm saying, now good night. I'm very tired and I have a big test in the morning that I should be well rested for."  
>With that said, Sam looked at me with a huge frown. She simply got up and left.<p>

I woke up by the sound of my alarm. I rolled over the turn it off to see my phone screen lit up. I had 3 new messages from Darren. I hesitated before opening them. I still want him in my life, so I decided to open them.  
>From Darren: Hey Allie. I just wanted to thank you again for coming last night.<br>From Darren: I also wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to Tahoe with us next weekend. Us meaning Joe, Joey, and Sam. Also a lot of our Michigan friends are flying in and meeting us there. We rented a huge cabin by the mountains.  
>From Darren: I guess you aren't up yet... Oops. Text me when you can. And good morning:)<br>I couldn't contain my smile at the last comment. Why did he have to make it so hard? This trip seemed like such a bad idea, but I really wanted to go. The whole weekend in the mountains, close to Darren. But there are going to be a bunch of more people. And it could be a great way to meet their other friends from Michigan. Maybe it was a good idea. We could establish our friendship during this trip and everything would be solved!  
>To Darren: Hey Darren. I was glad to be there. This Tahoe trip seems fun. Im up for it. Just text me the details and I will let you know. And good morning to you too.<br>I pressed send and got out of bed.

"Whatever happened to not getting close to Darren..." Sam whispered during our class.  
>"I thought it over and I think it would be a great way to establish our friendship. Plus these friends seem interesting."<br>"Sure..."  
>"I'm serious. Maybe this will be the time when he realizes we could be really good friends."<br>"Or maybe he'll just fall for you even more."


	6. Roadtrip

The morning of the road trip had come. I packed everything necessary and walked over to Sams dorm. When I got there, I saw a bunch of clothes and shoes scattered all over the room.  
>"Dude... Joe is picking us up in 10 minutes..."<br>"Don't you think I know that Allie! I'm wearing a fucking watch for Christs sake!" She yelled, something she rarely does.  
>"Hey Sam, chill. Whats wrong?"<br>"I don't know what to pack!"  
>"O my God. Stop stressing over such a stupid thing. Get a bag and lets just take everything." I said, picking up one of her bags and sorted out her stuff.<br>I started picking up whatever was on her bed when I stumbled across a small box.  
>"Condoms Sam?" I said, while looking at her with a raised eyebrow.<br>"I just... I- I'm bringing them just in case anyone needs them." She said, not making eye contact with me.  
>"Sure... I'm just making sure your room isn't next to mine."<p>

"Road trip bitches!" Joey yelled in my ear while I was putting my stuff in the trunk.  
>"Shut. the. fuck. up. Joseph."<br>"Al! Be Excited!"  
>"I will be. Give me a couple hours."<br>We all got in the van. The guys agreed to all take turns driving and the first one up was Joe. That left Darren and Joey on either side of me in the 2nd row. Just feeling his warm side on mine made me want to shiver. We started driving and surprisingly it was quiet. I was enjoying the quietness since it was 9 in the morning, but of course Joey had the great idea of playing road trip games. I started mumbling my answer just to find myself drifting off.

"Al, wake up." I heard Darren's voice whisper in my ear. I smiled, thinking it was one of my Darren themed dreams. That's when I heard the car door open and close. I quickly opened my eyes to realize my head was being cushioned by a very warm neck and slightly covered by some curls. Shit. I quickly sat up rubbing my eyes and avoided Darren's eyes. I looked around and noticed that we were parked at a gas station with no one else in the car.  
>"Good afternoon sleepyhead."<br>"Sorry about that."  
>"Sorry about what?"<br>" For ummm falling asleep on you. I didn't mean to invade your spa-"  
>"Al, its totally cool. You needed some sleep." After he said that I finally look up to see his beautiful smile.<br>"So... where is everyone?"  
>"Joe and Joey are getting food and Sam needed the restroom."<br>"Oooo I want food too!"  
>"I see someone isn't so grumpy anymore."<br>"Food makes everyone's happy!"

After getting about 15 pounds of food, I ended up sitting in the back with Sam and Joe while Darren sat in the passenger seat to accompany Joey who was driving. We started driving and it started getting a bit boring.  
>"Oooo! I have an idea!" Sam shouted making everyone jump. "I brought my portable DVD player and Joe, I know you have one of the few copies of AVPM in your bag..."<br>"Yes please! I've actually been wanting to really watch it but I haven't had time." I said becoming really excited about the idea.  
>"Yeah I actually do have a copy. And this way you will know some of our friends faces before actually meeting them."<br>Throughout the 2 hours and a half of AVPM I realized many things: 1. The Starkids are fucking genius. 2. AVPM is utterly amazing. 3. Darren makes a very cute Harry 4.I have a new found respect for Mr. Joseph Richter. His character made me laugh in ways I didn't know was possible. 5. I can snort... that one was embarrassing. 6. I'm very jealous Sam gets to touch Joe's abs. 8. Of course Darren composed the music, what the hell cant he do? 8. I officially a Starkid fan and I'm very nervous to meet them.  
>We stopped for the second time to change seating and I ended up in the passenger seat with Darren right beside me since it was his turn to drive. Throughout the ride we mostly talked about AVPM, I started annoying them with thousands of questions. After an hour or so it started to quiet down, so I turned around to find Joe and Sam snuggled up close to each other and Joey leaning on the window with eyes closed and mouth wide open. I smiled and took a quick picture.<br>"They will kill you if they know you took that picture."  
>"Then we will just have to keep it in between you and me."<br>"No problem, plus if we ever need to blackmail them we could use it."  
>" Darren Criss. I am offended! I am not that kind of person."<br>"Are you sure about that? " looking straight into my eyes with a mischievous grin spreading through his lips. I couldn't handle it so I quickly changed the subject.  
>"So Criss, I've learned that you can sing, act, compose, and pull of a amazing Harry. What can't you do?<br>" I'm full of many surprises."  
>"Seriously Darren it was amazing"<br>"Yeah I could tell by the way you were laughing."  
>"Shut up!"<br>"I don't know... I swear I heard a little snort back there..."  
>"Criss. I do not snort." I totally lied, looking straight ahead.<br>"Don't worry... it was really cute." he said, putting his hand on my arm. Oh crap, hes touching me! I quickly changed the subject again.  
>"So... just to let you know Im probably going to go all fan girl when meeting the Starkids."<br>"Ohhh that's fine. Just don't be too much of a freak and you will fit right in."  
>Great.<p> 


	7. Meeting Starkid

"This place is awesome!" Sam shouted as we wandered around the cabin. It wasn't the most luxurious cabin, but it had a very homey feeling and a great view. It had 5 bedrooms: 2 single bedrooms and 3 double bedrooms with 3 bathrooms. I immediately took the 2nd single bedroom since Sam and Joe took the first one. Thank god there was another room separating them from my room. Joey and Darren took the room in front of mine leaving the other 2 for the Starkids. Speaking of them, I was super nervous to meet them. I was going to meet Draco Malfoy! And Dumbledore! The doorbell interrupted my thoughts. Oh god here we go. I walked into the living room and saw 4 new faces. Darren was spinning a small sized girl in his arms, both of them smiling. I started to feel anger towards this... whats the word... no, it cant. I can't be jealous. What the hell? No. No. Let's remember for the billionth time: he's your friend, nothing else. That's your goal for this trip. Darren put down the girl and faced me. Holy shit, its Draco Malfoy.  
>"Al, this is Lauren." He said, as they walked towards me.<br>"Its nice to meet you Lauren, I'm Allie." I stuck out my hand, ugh why do I have to be such a dork.  
>" Hey Allie. Darren's told me a lot about you." she said, elbowing Darren with a smile grin on her face. Umm what? Is Darren blushing?<br>"Anyway, this over here is Dylan." Darren signaled, changing the subject. "This is Jamie and this is Brian." I recognized all three of them and wanted to fangirled so badly.  
>"So this is Allie?" Dylan said, walking towards me, with the same grin Lauren had on her face seconds ago.<br>"She looks prettier in person." Jamie said, smiling.  
>Woah... wait what?<br>"You've seen a picture of me?"  
>"Well yeah, we wanted to see who Darren-"<br>"and I hang out with in LA." Joey said, cutting Jamie off.  
>"Ok?"<br>"They didn't believe that we had made friends in LA." Joey said jokingly. "Anyway, I think we should all get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow.  
>Everyone headed towards their rooms and I started unpacking everything since I wasn't really tired. After everything was in place, I put on my mickey mouse bottoms and a white t shirt. Then I grabbed my toiletry bag and headed towards the bathroom. Pulling my stuff out of the bag I realized I had forgot my toothpaste. Crap.<br>I quickly made my way towards Joe and Sams room to ask them if they had any. I was about to knock on the door when I heard some very disturbing noises from the other side of the door . Oh god. No. No. Eww. On the first night!? Really!? I quickly backed away trying to erase that noise from my memory. Well, the only option now is Darren and Joey's room since I felt a bit uncomfortable asking people I had just met. I knocked on their door, praying Joey would answer. But of course, as everything else fails me, Darren answers the door. Shirtless. Wow, I couldn't really tell how toned he was with clothes on. He should go shirtless more often. Ugh FOCUS!  
>"Hey Al"<br>"Um hey. I was wondering if I could borrow some toothpaste. I forgot mine."  
>"Yeah, sure. I was actually going to go brush my teeth too."<br>"Oh ok"  
>I followed him to the bathroom, taking my time, admiring his back muscles that were very well defined may I add. We both got in front of a big mirror that was behind the sink and started brushing our teeth. Toothpaste, you better stay in my mouth. I felt like that was the longest minute of my life. We would look at each other and grin, which would make me look away. Finally, we both finished and rinsed our mouth. When I looked up, I found him staring at me. Oh crap, did I have toothpaste on my face? I looked in the mirror, but found nothing. Looking back at Darren, I found him still starring at me.<br>"Yes?"  
>"What?"<br>"I don't know. You're staring."  
>"Oh sorry. Its just... um... you look really pretty right now."<br>Was he serious? I had not 1 ounce of makeup, my hair was in a messy bun, and I was wearing my glasses.  
>"Yeah right."<br>"No seriously." He said taking a step towards me. " I love the natural look."  
>"Thanks" I said, finding my feet very interesting.<br>"Well, I should probably get to bed. You too... we have a long day tomorrow.  
>He stepped even closer and tilted my chin up, kissing my cheek.<br>"Goodnight Al." He said, looking warmly into my eyes.  
>"Goodnight Dare."<p> 


	8. I Can't Ski

I was woken up by various loud voices coming from the kitchen. I got up, made myself presentable, and headed towards the kitchen. When I got there, I was in shock from all the chaos that had been made in just matter of minutes. Joey was chasing Lauren for a box of cereal, Brian and Dylan were yelling at something on the T.V., Joe and Sam were having a tickle fight, and Jamie was singing at the top of her lungs while making scrambled eggs. How long have I been asleep?!  
>"I'm sorry about them." Darren said from behind me, making me jump a bit. God, even in the morning he looked good. His hair was sticking out all sorts of crazy directions and he was rubbing his eyes.<br>"It's cool, it's actually kinda entertaining."  
>"Yeah, I've missed this."<br>"I'm sure you have. It's an interesting way to start your mornings"  
>"And this is only 6 of us. Just wait till the whole gang gets together. Then its a party."<p>

"Nope. I'm not doing it."  
>"Come on Al. Its not that hard."<br>"No. I have never skied before and I'm not about to fall on my ass in front of all these people."  
>We had arrived at a ski lodge about and hour again and I had refused to ski the second I found out what we were doing. I never learned how to ski, I've always been a sun kinda girl. I was not going to embarrass myself in front of the Starkids and Darren. Sam was now trying for the 15th billionth time to get me to ski, but I wouldn't budge. She finally gave up, sighed, and went off. I was now sitting on the bench alone, observing my surroundings. Oh shit, Joey just fell and he looks like a baby deer trying to stand up. I then turned my attention to Sam and Joe, they were standing up on their skis, holding each other by the waist, talking. Even though their sexual attraction was some what repulsive, I couldn't help but smile at their cuteness. The way they looked at each other was just beautiful.<br>"Whatcha looking at?" I jumped at the sound of Darren's voice.  
>"Crap Darren, you have to stop doing that!"<br>"It's not my fault you space out a lot." He had a point. "Anyway, why aren't you skiing?"  
>"I don't know how to ski."<br>"I'll show you."  
>"No thanks."<br>"Come on Al, please..." he said, starring at me with the puppy dog eyes. Damn those puppy dog eyes.  
>"Ugh fine, but if I break something, it's your fault."<br>"Deal."

We went to the baby slope and I put on all the gear necessary. Darren started to show me how to move and surprisingly I started to learn pretty quickly.  
>"You're doing pretty well Al. You ready to go down all the way?"<br>"I think so."  
>"Ok, I'll meet you doing there. Good luck." he waved as he headed down the slope.<br>I started going down and saw Darren waiting for me at the bottom, smiling and cheering me on.  
>He sure was amazing. He took time out of his skiing trip to show my sorry ass how to ski. And those eyes he gave me, the- OH SHIT! I was too focused on my thoughts that I didn't realized I was headed straight towards Darren. I tried to swerve out of the way but it was to late. It matter of second, I saw Darren's face, then curls, then snow. Oh god, that's going to leave a bruise. I opened my eyes to see the damage, but I just found Darren staring straight at me, trying not to laugh.<br>"You should really get that spacing out thing check out. It has officially become dangerous."  
>"Oh shush... Are you ok?"<br>"I'm fine. You?"  
>"I'll be ok." What is that on my waist? Oh god, his hand are on my waist. I repeat HIS HANDS ARE ON MY WAIST.<br>"You learned really fast. I'm impressed."  
>"It's because I had a good teacher."<br>"Oh really, I'm sure they must be amazing."  
>I just smirked at his comment and looked into his eyes. I wish I could just lay here forever. NO. ALLIE. Snap out of it! FRIEND! Don't forget the objective! I quickly rolled off of him and got up. He sat up with a look of confusion.<br>"We should um get back to the rest." I said as I started to go back. I stopped and looked back at him to see if he was following. He was still sitting in the snow, looking down, with a small frown on his lips. If only he really knew my problem, his feelings would be gone in an instant.


	9. What is this?

We got back to the house pretty late. After skiing, we had a very interesting snowmobile race which I got 2nd and then we went to eat at a diner. In just a day I had become close to the Starkids. I also noticed the bond they had with each other. It's a weird feeling of energy that's amazing to observe. They were a very close knit group that very thankfully very accepting and opening to Sam and I.  
>"Guys, let's watch a movie!" Jamie said as we all took of our soaking snow jackets and boots.<br>"What movie?" Joe asked.  
>"Aladdin!" Darren screamed, before anyone could say anything.<br>"No!" Joe said, with a couple of agreement nods from the rest.  
>"I agree with Darren." I said, I really wanted to watch it!<br>"Come on Al, you guys can watch that some other time alone..." Sam replied, winking at me.  
>I started to show a hint of red rising up on my cheeks and was about to throw out a snarky comment when Darren said,"You know what? I think we will." and took me hand a lead me to my bedroom."<br>"I'll me right back." he said and disappeared through the door.  
>Holy shit. I'm going to watch Aladdin with Darren, alone. Oh. My. God. On my bed. Oh God. No. No. Calm down. We are just watching a movie. Nothing to worry about.<br>"Here we go." Darren appeared with his macbook and Aladdin DVD. He put down the laptop at the end of the bed, put the DVD in, and rested his back on the headboard. I stood up and turned off the light and sat next to him.  
>"I told you we would watch Aladdin together." he whispered into my ear right before the movie began.<br>Throughout the movie, I became somewhat comfortable with our situation. The movie also helped too. Its Aladdin, duh. I began to forget why I was so nervous and started to enjoy the movie and Darren singing along to every song. When the movie got to A Whole New World, I was so mesmerized by how cute Jasmine and Aladdin were I slightly jumped when Darren put his arm around me. Oh no... here we go. I stopped breathing and noticed he hesitated too. Just let go. Your fine. I breathed out and leaned towards his touch as he pulled me closer. I rested my head on his chest and he had his hand on my back , playing with the tips of my hair. For the first time, I felt truly happy, with no guilt or desperation of backing away from him. I spent the rest of the movie feeling how he breathed and tried to take in the moment. Before I knew it, the movie was over and I started to pout because I knew our cuddle session was coming to a close.  
>"You up for another one?" Darren whispered in my ear.<br>I smiled and looked up,"Of course I am. What do you wanna watch?"  
>"I'm still in the Disney mood, but I didn't bring anymore."<br>"Ooo I did! I think I put them in the nightstand. I'll look for them, just let me take a quick bathroom break."  
>I headed to the bathroom and shut the door. I looked in the mirror and smiled. Was this really happening? Was I just in Darren's arms? For the first time, I didn't want to walk away. I wanted to see where this could go. And now we are going to see another movie! I freshened up a bit and walked straight to my room with the biggest smile on my face. I opened my door and saw Darren sitting on my bed, facing the nightstand with his back towards me. I closed the door and walked towards his side and stopped when I saw my nightstand drawer opened. Shit. No. He couldn't have found them. I hid them pretty deep. Darren had my many bags of pills and needles in his hands. He looked up at me, frowning and said, " What is this?"<p> 


	10. Avoiding

"I, um, these are... first off why are you looking through my stuff?" I said, immediately going into defensive mode.

"I was looking for the Disney movies and found all of this, can you please tell me what this is for?"

"It's nothing Darren." I said, grabbing the bags out of his hands and shoving them back into the night drawer.

"Allie. I'm worr-"

"Darren! I need you to drive me to the store!" Jamie stormed in, getting a hold of Darren.

"Jamie, I'm talking." he said to her, not even bothering to look at her. His eyes were still on me, holding my gaze. I couldn't read his expression, I had never experienced it before. His eyes had turned a darker color and his eyebrows were furrowed together, looking at me with a very intense look on his face.

"Darren, please! No one else wants to take me! I need something! Please!" Jamie insisted.

"You should go with her." I told him, trying to get out of the situation as fast as possible. He frowned and said, "Fine." Jamie turned around and headed out, yelling, "Meet you in the car Dare." When Jamie was out of sight, Darren got closer to me and said, "We are not done with this conversation. I'll talk to you later, Allie." before walking out of my room. I closed my door and sat on my bed. As I began to think of what Darren was probably thinking of me, I started to cry. God, he probably thinks I'm suicidal or crazy. I mean, he just found a bunch of pills and needles hidden in my room, what else would he think. I laid and thought of the different ways my conversation with Darren would go. I just gave up and concluded that I wouldn't go well. This would change our relationship forever. I fell asleep, dreading my future conversation with Darren.

I woke up and saw that it was 10:30 in the morning. I had slept through the whole night, not bothering to take off my snow clothes or makeup. It didn't matter anyway, since my mascara had dried on my cheeks, after crying last night. I tried to clean up my face with a make up toilettes as much as possible, and started making my bed. At that point I heard a knock at the door. Oh god, no, not now. They knocked again and said, "Allie?". I sighed with relief, when I heard Lauren's voice through the door. I open the door slightly, and smiled,"Hey."

"Good morning. I just wanted to tell you that we are going to breakfast in 15 minutes if you wanna go."

"Oh cool, yeah I'll be there."

"Yay! See you in a few."

I grabbed some clothes and my towel, and stuck my head through my door. The hallway was clear. I ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower. I put on my clothes and tied my hair into a bun. Well no more stalling. Here I go. I walked into the living room, where everyone was busy putting on their socks and boots. Sam, who was the closest to the hallway, saw me and yelled," Al! Good morning sleepyhead!" Everyone else looked up and greeted me. I made eye contact with Darren, who just looked at me giving me a small smile. It wasn't a normal Darren smile, it was a bit fake and it had a hint of sadness to it.

"Sooo, how was your movie night with Darren?" Sam whispered, into my ear as I put on my boots.

"He found them"

"Found what?"

"The pills and needles. He found all of it."

"Wait, What? How?"

"He was looking for some movies in my nightstand and found them."

"Al, you said yourself, he was going to find out someday. It's not bad, you just have to explain your condition to him and he won't ca-"

"Samantha, don't say he won't care."

"But it won't matter to hi-"

"Girls, you ready?" Joe said, as we ended our secretive conversation. We then noticed that we were the only ones left in the house.

"Yeah, we are." I said, and headed outside. The Starkids were already in the car they had rented when they got here and the rest were in Joe's car. I got into the backseat, sitting next to Joey who was in the middle, with Darren beside him. I had conclude to avoid Darren as much as possible. I won't get in his way and I'll try to not be left alone with him, after all we are leaving tomorrow, I can make it. When we got to the restaurant, we all were put into a booth, sitting as far as possible from Darren, I sat down and ordered my food. I didn't say one word throughout breakfast, I just tried to listen to the conversations and hide myself from being talked to. I also noticed that Darren was not in a talkative mood, I mean that weird, it's Darren. He would sometimes grin at a comment, but then he would go back to stirring his coffee. When we finished, we all headed back to the car to go back to the cabin. As I walked outside to the car, I stepped on black ice and slipped backwards. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact of the cold hard floor, but it never came. Instead, I felt a pair of arms that grabbed me around my waist and pulled me into a hug. I opened my eyes and saw his eyes again. Why does it always have to be him?!

"Are you ok?" He asked, with a concerned look on his face. All I could do is nod and just stare into his eyes, that had returned to their beautiful hazel color.

"Guys... you ready?" Joe said. Darren quickly let go of me and I straightened up.

"Yeah, lets get going."I said. opening the car door and getting in.

When we got the the cabin, I quickly went to my room. I spent the rest of the day there, thankfully with no interruptions. I read some books, listened to some music, and drew some sketches in my book. I put on my pjs and picked up my book to read a few more chapters before going to bed. Then I heard a knock. Oh no. Please no. It was going so well. Wait. Who knows if it's him? It could be Sam or Joey. After all, he wasn't in a talkative mood during breakfast. I opened the door and my heart dropped.

"Can I come in?" Darren asked.

"Umm sure." I said. I let him in and closed the door. I took a deep breath and turning around slowly. I found him staring at me and waited for him to start.

"Soo umm... we should talk." He said.

"What about?" Of course, I knew what about. I just wanted to postpone our conversation as long as possible.

"Al, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Please, I'm worried." He said. I looked up and saw his face full of concern.

"You shouldn't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Really, you call avoiding me the whole day and being nervous right now fine?

"I haven't bee-"

'Don't give me that. I know you more than you think I do."

"I just..."

"You just what?"

"I'm scared to tell you because you will look at me differently when you find out!"

"Find out what?"

"Never mind Darren, just drop it." I looked down towards my feet. That's when I felt his had grab mine. I looked up and found him closer.

"Please Al." He said, caressing my hand. "Help me understand. I really want to."

"Why?" I asked, starting to tear up.

"I care about you Allie. More than you know." I had to tell him. He looks so concerned, I didn't want to have him worry. Even though he was going to change his whole perspective of me, I needed to tell him. I led him to sit on the bed with me and took a deep breath.

"Darren, I'm going to tell you my story. I want you not to say anything until I'm done. Okay?" I said, looking him straight in the eyes. He nodded and I began. This was the end of his flirting, of our touching. He was going to move on to a prettier, healthier person after I tell him. Here we go.


	11. Life Story

"Since I was young, I had a great life; great parents, friends, grades. The only thing that struggled with was my weight. As the years went by, I noticed it more and more which put me into a depressive state. The summer before 8th grade, I decided to change. I ate less and played volleyball 5 times a week. I achieved my normal weight by graduation and finally felt happy. My struggle that I had dealt with since basically birth was over. I was so proud of my new body, it gave me so much confidence. My first year of high school made me feel like I was on top of the world. I had great grades, a great boyfriend, a good look, great friends. I was a leader; not only on the volleyball court but in life. Everything came tumbling down the summer before my sophomore year. As time progressed that year, I felt a pain when I moved all over my body, It felt like if I had worked out for the first time in my life. I didn't think much about it until it hurt when I wrote. I told my parents and scheduled a doctors appointment. I found out I had Juvenile Arthritis. I had no idea a 15 year old could get arthritis. I got put on medication and went on with my life. As time progressed I noticed that the pain had not gone away fully. I still really hurt, sometimes I couldn't even get out of bed. I had to quit volleyball and throw away my dream of playing in college. Quitting the sport I loved, made me gain weight. The nightmares of being over weight slowly came back and I was so stressed, it made me a bit depressed. About a year passed, I had tried different medications, but none of them made me fell somewhat ok. That's when I got more tests done and I was diagnosed with Lupus Arthritis. My first reaction was: What the hell is that? The dictionary definition I got was: Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue. This results in symptoms such as inflammation, swelling, and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, and lungs. I was scared for my life. I never thought that my life could be in danger, constantly. They put me on prednisone. This drug worked miracles. I could feel the difference over night. As time went by I noticed rapid changes in my body. I had gained a lot of weight, I had developed a lot of bruises, my hair was falling out, I was a lot of stretch marks all over my body and my face was turning very round. I blamed myself for all these changes and fell into deep depression. I had gone from a happy leader to feeling worthless. I hated myself. I later found out that even though prednisone was helping me, it had horrible side affects. Prednisone retains water weight, makes your skin very thin, makes you crave food all the time, makes your hair fall out, and give you what is called the prednisone face. At this point I knew it wasn't my fault but I still blamed myself. Every day I would wake up a see a new bruise or a new stretch mark and feel disgusted with myself. I also had 2 times where I almost died. It was scary as hell. I hated that this way my life and it was going to stay that way until I died. My life had turned into needles, doctors visits, pills, hurt, and depression. The stretch marks made me so insecure. It looked like a tiger had clawed me all over. I hid under clothes and didn't even go to prom because I couldn't find a dress to cover up my scars. I pushed myself away from everyone, including my family. I didn't really tell my friends what was happening in my life. I would cry all the time thinking that a 17 year old should not feel this way. My parents finally intervened and took me to therapy and lupus support groups. This made me tell my friends and close ones about my problem. They all reassured me and said I was beautiful. It made me feel a bit better and helped me lose some weight and feel better about myself. Also my doctor started telling me that I was going to try to get of prednisone. I took over a year, but slowly I got off of it and switched to other medications. After senior year, I got 3 operations to reduced the scarification and other things I finally looked somewhat normal. My life got better. I'm still on a lot of medication and I still have scars and I still have to deal with a lot of needles and doctors, but it's way better than the first years."

I finished and Darren just stared at me. I looked down and saw that his hand was still intertwined in mine. At this point I had tears running down my cheeks. He put his finger under my chin and lifted it up so my eyes would meet his.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that." He said and pulled me into a hug. He held me there for what seemed forever and I just let everything out. Darren had become one of those people in my life. He was important enough to tell him my story and he accepted me.


	12. Good Friends

I pulled back from the hug to see a small smile on his lips. I trusted him. I told him something that was so private and deep in my life. It had only taken me a number of days to tell him something that took me years to tell other people. Of course I didn't tell him everything; some of those thoughts are still there. I'm still somewhat battling with depression, insecurity, loneliness. But at least he knew most of it and he was smiling at me, giving me a sense of security.

"Guys, we are goi-, oh did I interrupt something?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked down at our hands that were linked together. Darren smiled at me, then looked at our hands and said, "Joesph, you should really knock. Whatsup?"

"Well um we are all in the living room and we were going to play a game. We wanted you guys to play but it seems you guys are just fine here." Joey smirked.

"I wanna play!" I said while jumping of the bed. "Come on Dare!" We both ran to the living room like 5 year olds, leaving Joey speechless at the bedroom door.

"Wow guys, finally!" Lauren said as she shuffled the Apples to Apples cards.

We played until 2 in the morning and then decided we needed our sleep, after all we were leaving the next day. I got into my room, quickly followed by Sam.

"So?!" She yelled after shutting the door.

"Shush Sam! So what?" I said, playing dumb.

"You. Darren. You guys were in here for a really long time! What happened?!"

"I told him."

"Holy Shit. Really?"

"Yup"

"And what did he say?"

"He said I'm sorry you had to go through that, and then he hugged me."

"Awwww. So Darren knows and he's fine with it! See I told you!"

"Sam, it's not like that."

"Yeah it is. Now you guys can go out and be together. What else do you want? He likes you and accepts what you have."

"Of course he does, that doesn't mean he still like me. It always happens."

"What?"

"When guys see me extremely sick or in the hospital, they leave. They say its too much for them to handle and they are right. Who wants a sick person?"

"Al, that doesn't mean you are titled the sick girl. If I met you right now, I would have never guessed you were sick. You are so much more than your struggle."

"Yeah I guess, but still. I don't wanna start a relationship with Darren because I don't want him to put up with everything I have. I don't wanna be his problem. I really want him as a good friend, especially now that he knows a lot."

"Al, he really likes you, but whatever its your choice. I'll support you all the way through."

"Thatnks Sami. Now go to sleep!"

"Goodnight Al" she said, walking out and closing the door.


	13. Words

"I'm really going to miss you." Lauren said as she hugged me. We were all saying goodbye to the Starkids who were going back Michigan. In just a few days, I had made close bonds with all of them. "Make sure you text me. Oh, and tell me how things go with Darren." She whispered before letting go. Before I have a chance to protest, someone engulfed me into a giant hug from behind.

"I'm gonna miss you Al!" Dylan said as he lifted me off the floor.

"I'm going to miss you too Dylan! Now, please put me down! He set me on my feet and I turned around to give him a proper hug. I also give Jamie and Brian hugs before I head out to the car to put my stuff in the trunk.

"Let me help you with that." Darren comes up behind me and tries to take my bag but I refuse.

"No. I'm ok. Thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah"

"Ok... Did you like the trip?"

"Yeah, thanks Dare. For inviting me and everything." I said while putting my stuff into the trunk.

"Yeah I'm glad you came. It wouldn't have been the same."

"Yup, who else would have watched Aladdin with you?" I said, giving him a mocking smile.

"Haha very funny. Even though that was a plus, I'm glad you opened up to me. I'm honored."

" You should be." I said with a small smile and playfully pushing him on his shoulder. He then took hold of my hand and said, " I really am. You're amazing." He got closer to me to pull away a strand of hair that had been blocking my eyes from his. He rested his hand on my cheek, and slowly caressed my cheek with his thumb. His stare literally saw everything inside me, he understood. Oh god, what if he knows I like him?! Oh! His Face. Moving. Closer. No! I Can't! Oh god his eyes are shutting!

"Ahem" I quickly jumped back and saw Sami standing their with a huge smirk. "Well, I was going to tell you guys that we are taking a group picture inside, but you guys seemed really comfortable out here."

"Shut up Sam, let's go." I said, letting Darren go in front of me. Before making it inside, Sam whispers, "You wont resist much longer." I rolled my eyes and joined the group picture. We said our final goodbyes and got into our vans. It took us around 9 hours to get back to LA. The guys dropped us off. Joe helped Sam to her dorm, while Darren helped me to mine. We got to my door and he hugged me. When pulling back, he started leaning in again.

"Darren..." I said, stepping back.

"What? Am I way off?" he said with a concerned look on his face.

"No, you're not. But, we can't."

"Why not? I really like you Al. And I hoping that you like me too?" he said, grabbing me hands.

"Because... uhhhmmm... I'm not ready to be in a relationship. I think we were meant to be friends, great friends." I hated lying to him. I was so ready for a relationship with him. It will hurt me forever and ever. I'll suffer when he moves on, but I just can't be with him. I can't become his problem and then be hurt again. I looked at his face and I wish I hadn't; he looked like a puppy who had just been kicked. Oh god. He slowly let go of my hands and said. "Goodnight Al." with a small sad smile, as if trying to hide the hurt, which was clearly visible. I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell him that I wanted to be with him to. I wanted to grab him and kiss him. Instead, I watched him walk down the hall, without saying one word.


	14. BFF

Sam: Joe is leaving tomorrow and we are all going to the airport if you wanna come.

I didn't really want to see Darren yet but I had to do it for Joe.

Me: I'll be there. What time?

Sam: 5:30 pm at LAX. We're meeting by the Starbucks stand.

I parked and headed inside the airport. When I got to the Starbucks stand, I noticed I was 15 minutes early so I decided to get some coffee, sit down, and play games on my phone.

"Hey" I looked up and found myself once again looking into his eyes. Oh god, here comes the awkwardness.

"Hi...uhm... Where are the others?"

"Oh yeah, they're coming. I came straight from work." He said with a small smile on his face.

"Work? I thought you worked at night?"

"As in acting." He said very excited.

"You got an acting job?!" He nodded very eagerly. "Holy crap! Congrats!" I jumped out of my chair and into his arms. He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up slightly. I didn't really care at this point, the whole awkward idea was behind me. I was so happy for him; he deserved this. I pulled away and started asking a bunch of questions regarding his new job.

"What shows it? Who's your character? How long are you going to be on the show?"

"Woah! Too many questions!" Darren said as he sat down. "It's the T.V. show Eastwick on ABC. I play Josh; one of the main characters love interest. She likes him but ignores him because he's kinda dorky."

"Oh Dare! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Al... I've missed you" he said, frowning slightly.

"Me too... I think we just needed to sort out our thoughts." I said looking down.

"Yeah about that..." Oh no please no. "I would really like to take up your friends offer."

"Really?" I said, lifting up my head.

"Yup, I'm hoping to reach BFF status."

I laughed, "Deal."

"Sam you have to let go of him." I tugged on her shirt for the 50th time, trying to rip her off of Joe. Like all the other tries, I failed.

"At least let us say goodbye." Joey whined. Sam sighed and reluctantly let go. Joey and Darren gave Joe a hug and then it was my turn. I went to hug him and said," I'm going to miss you Joe. Oh and if you ever hurt Sam in any way, I will personally fly out to Chicago and cut your balls off."Joe froze up a bit as a patted his shoulder and let go. Darren and Joey were cracking up behind him while Sam rolled her eyes and latched herself onto Joe once more.


	15. Josh

"Sam can you drive any faster?!" I said. We were on our way to Darren and Joeys to watch Darren's first episode of Eastwick and thanks to Sam and Joes 2 hour skype session we were running late.  
>"Al, chill. We have 10 minutes." She said looking at her car clock<br>"Sam your clock is 5 minutes slow!" I said after I checked my phone.  
>"Shit. That's why I'm always late." I just rolled my eyes and prayed that we would be there on time.<p>

We were knocking on their door 10 minutes later. The door opens and we see Joey.  
>"Holy crap, I thought you guys weren't coming."<br>"Sorry! It's all Joe and Sams fault!" I yelled, heading towards the couch where Darren was seated looking intently at the T.V.  
>"Hey Dare." I said. When he heard me, he turned around and gave me a huge smile. I could see he was so excited. "You made it."<br>"So that means we didn't miss it?"  
>"Yup, I come on after this commercial break."<br>"Oh thank god." I said, taking the seat next to him and anxiously waited for Eastwick to come back on.

"A toast to Darren, or should I say Josh!" Joey joked as we celebrated his first Easwick episode. While watching the episode, I kept looking over at Darren from the corner of my eye from time to time. He would be quietly reciting his lines to himself as his character said them. What a dork... A really cute and amazing dork... Who had just been on T.V! I still couldn't believe that we had just seen him on T.V. I was just so proud of him. I knew that this was just the first step. Darren's career was going to be huge and I'm glad I got to be here at the start.


	16. Home Sweet Home

I had just gotten off the plane and was putting my luggage into the truck of the taxi. Christmas vacation was great but LA was my home now, and I was back just in time to celebrate New Years Eve tomorrow. Throughout the 3 weeks at home, I was contacted none stop by Sam or Darren, with an occasional random conversation lead by Joey or Joe. Sam had gone back home to Colorado to spend time with her dad and Darren had gone back home to San Francisco to spend Christmas with his folks. Darren and I had become quite comfortable with our relationship. It went back to what it was like before our awkward encounter. That's what I loved. When most people learn about my condition, our conversations turned into how I felt and I should be careful of this or that, while giving me a pitying look. Even though Darren worried for my health, he did it in a way that didn't make me feel handicapped. We talked forever, causing my family to start with "boyfriend" jokes. Even though I would get bright red and tell them to shut up, I secretly smiled on the inside. It gave me a bit of an imagination of what it would be like if we were together. A girl can dream right? The four of us planned to celebrate New Years together before leaving. I was the last one to arrive in LA. Sam had arrived 5 days ago. Even though Darren and I had talked a lot the past weeks, he hadn't really contacted me the past 6 days. He arrived yesterday from what he told me 2 weeks ago. It didn't really bother me since I knew he hadn't seen his family or hometown in a while, making him super busy. I got to my dorm and opened my door. I had barely made it in before having someone jump on me, hugging me tightly.

"I've missed you!" Sam yelled as she squeezed me even tighter.

"I've missed you too!" I said, hugging her back.

We laid on my bed for hours catching up on the 3 long weeks we had missed. Then Sam told me something that made me frown.

"And I was thinking we could have a sort of party at Darren and Joeys place. I told them my idea when I went over and they said that would be fine. Darren and Joey have it all taken care of."

"When did you visit."

"The day I got back, they were both already here."

"Oh..." Darren had lied to me. Why would he need to lie to my about this?

"What wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a bit tired." I said, trying to hide my sadness.

"Ok well before leaving you so you can sleep, I just wanted to tell you that I invited some of our friends to the party since the boys have invited some of theirs."

"Who did you invite?"

"Matt, Nikki, Steph, Abbey, Justin, Brian, and Harry."

We had met Steph and Abbey when we had to join forces with the theater department to create a short film. We also met Harry and Brian through that project since we needed musicians and vocalists. Steph had introduced me to Nikki, who was majoring in political science who then introduced me to her boyfriend, Justin, who is majoring in architecture. I had know Matt from the first day when we met in my editing class. It's an odd mix but it worked from the day we all meet each other. Other than Sam, they were my friends and my "group" in college.

"Ok. Awesome."

"Yup, well now I'll let you sleep. Goodnight." Sam said and then exited my dorm. Even though I was a bit saddened my Darren's mysterious early flight, I shook it off. Who am I to be getting offended? He doesn't have to tell me anything. It was probably a last minute decision and has been busy ever since. I let it go and got really excited about tomorrow. I really couldn't wait to see those hazel eyes I hadn't seen in 3 weeks.


	17. Happy New Year!

I put on my leather rounded mini skirt with my cream sleeveless blouse. I tucked my blouse into my skirt and put my leather jacket on top. I got some black tights and finished it of with my ankle high black boots. I let go of the bun on top of my hair, causing a wave pattern and blow dried my side bangs. While I was finishing my makeup, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I said, not even bothering to looking away from the mirror.

"Holy shit Al! You look hot."

I turned around to shyly thank her and saw what she was wearing.

"Look who talking dude! You know Joe isn't going to be there right?" I joked. She was wearing black skinny jeans with a skintight white shirt and a black blazer on top. She had closed toe black heels on and her hair was pull tight into a neat ponytail. She finished the look of with dark red lips. She rolled her eyes after my comment.

" This is for me... Plus we are going to Skype at some point during the party."

"Ok... Are we going with the others or are they meeting us there."

"We are taking Matt, Steph, Abbey, and Harry. The others will meet us there."

"Ok, we'll I'm ready. Let's go!"

We waited for them by Sams car.

"Who's ready to party!" Abbey screams and she waves her jacket in the air. Steph, Harry, and Matt all trail behind her.

I just laughed and hugged them as they got to us. We all got in and drove to Darren and Joeys.

"So, we're finally going to meet the famous Darren and Joey." Steph said as we stopped at a light.

"Yup, you'll love them!"

"It's really nice that they are letting us come. Im liking them already."

"Yup, I'm excited to meet their friends!" Abbey commented

"Oh god, Abbeys going to strike again!"

"Shut up, just because I like having fun... Plus I need a New Years kiss."

"Well I think Joey could be up for that." Sam joked. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"What about Darren? You do need backups after all." Matt asked.

"Al has that one covered." Abbey responded.

My eyes widened. "What?! I- no!" I stuttered. "How the hell did she know that?!" I turned to Sam.

"What? You guys are so obvio-"

"Sam!"

"I'm sorry! You wouldn't say anything and I had to tell someone how cute you guys were! Anyway guys, they are just friends now." I appreciated that she respect my wishes, even though she said it in a somewhat mocking tone.

We pulled up to their apartment and found that the door was already opened. We walked into the crowded and very loud group of people. I estimated about 40-50 people crammed into an tiny apartment that would normally fit about 20. I immediately spotted Joey who was serving some drinks.

"Hey! You made it!" He said when hugged me.

"Joseph! Great party!"

"Thanks!" He the let go of me and shifted his eyes towards Steph, "Would you care to introduce me?" He asked me, never taking his eyes of Steph. Steph was blushing hard, but kept her eyes on him.

"Steph this is Joey. Joey this is Steph." They just got closer and looked at each other. I literally didn't know if I wanted to burst out in laughter or awww because it was weird and cute at the same time.

"Hi, I'm Joey..."

"She already knows that!" Sam shouted, I elbowed her, worrying that this might interrupt their moment but it hadn't even interrupted the conversation they were slowly starting.

"Guys I think we should give them some alone time.." I said when I noticed that our entire group had been watching. Before following the group to the middle of the crowded mush I turned around and asked Joey, "Hey Joey, where's Darren?" He didn't even turn to me but pointed with his finger. He pointed towards a bookshelf. Ugh, Joeys going to be no help. Whatever, it's a 2 bedroom apartment, how hard is it going to be to find him at some point? I went to the middle where I found my friends. We danced and goofed around for a while. In this period of time I drank 2 bottles of water which wasn't really convenient because my bladder was one of an 80 year old. I headed to the bathroom, removing myself from the sweaty group of dancers. As I turned the corner I saw him; he wasn't alone though. He was sitting down, taking to a friend beside him and on his lap sat a dirty blonde who might as well walk around naked because her "dress" was fooling no one. Her arms were around his neck, leaning her head against his neck. She would whisper things into his ear and he would smile. His hand was on her back, tracing a line from the top of her spine all the way to the beginning of her ass. I stood there with my mouth slightly opened and on the verge of tears. I didn't expect for him to move on so quickly. Or maybe that was it, he didn't care after all. I was just another girl that he tried to seduce. Failing with me, moving on to her. He was an actor after all, he was pretty good might I say. I couldn't look anymore so I opened the bathroom door and locked myself in there. I just sat on the floor, crying for about 5 minutes when there was a knock at the door.

"Could you hurry up? I need to go."

I cleared my throat and said,"Yeah, I'll be right out." I quickly wiped my face and touched up my lipgloss. I'm over it. Yup. He's having his fun, let me have fun. If he's happy, let me be happy for him. It is New Years after all... I joined my friends again and saw that Joey and Steph were dancing very closely together. Yay! We were all goofing around until a particular song came up. Everyone started pairing off in couples and I just stood there, awkwardly. But then some on took my hand and spun me around. Matt. I smiled and thanked him for taking me out of that awkward loner situation I had going on. He just laughed and started dancing with me. I was having a great time until I looked up and saw Darren. He had stood up from where he was and locked eyes with me. The girl was gone. He smiled at me and waved. I just looked at him with an expressionless stare and went back to looking at Matt, who seemed to read my mind since he just then decided to bring me close to his body. I took advantage of this and started dancing closely with Matt. Yes, hoping Darren would see us, it's not like Matts having a bad time or anything. The night kept going on like this. Eventually the blonde went back to Darren and dragged him out into crowd. We were only a few feet away and he would look in my direction at some points. I would pretend that he wasn't even there. Finally, Joey turned down the music so we could watch the ball drop. We had 10 minutes until the New Year. Some turned to the TV to wait, some went to get a drink ready to toast. I found my group and joined the people by the TV. Somehow Darren and his "friend" ended up right next to Matt and I. I could see Darren looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I ignored it and scooted closer to Matt, focusing the TV screen.

"Hi.." I heard a small whisper, only loud enough for me to hear.

"Hi." I quickly said, not even bothering to take my eyes off the screen.

"Ok then..." He said a little louder. I rolled my eyes and expected that our conversation was ending there. Of course he had another plan. I suddenly felt a hand on mine and looked up to see Darren starting to walk towards the hallway, dragging me along. I started to protest and Matt reached for Darren's hand on mine but Sam stopped him. Darren then stopped and made eye contact with her for just seconds before she turned to Matt and said it was ok. I just looked her with wide eyes, "Sam! What the hell!?" I started shaking my hand free from Darren and was about to walk off when she grabbed me by the shoulder and said, "You are going to have to talk to him, sooner or later. He really needs to talk to you too."

"How the hell do you know this?!"

"Please, for me? Al, you don't wanna start this New Year on a bad note."

I just sighed deeply and turned to him. He reached for my hand but I yanked it away.

"I can walk by myself." I said before turning the corner I had turned earlier. There was no one there anymore giving us privacy I didn't want. I turned around and crossed my arms. He just stood there, saying absolutely nothing.

"Look, whatever you wanna say, do it fast. I'm not missing the New Year celebration just to see you stand there like idiot."

His eyes widened a bit, which made me feel kinda bad. I mean, it came out a little harsher than I planned it to be but, whatever. This is no time to apologize or cave in.

"Al I-I just...um I just"

"What!?"

"Why are you being so rude to me?"

"Why are you being so slow?!"

"What the hell is wrong with you Allie?!" Oh shit. He just pulled out the full name. He had raised his voice and furrowed his brows a bit. Thank god that everyone was in the living room being really loud because then we would definitely be heard.

"Nothing! Since we aren't making much progress, I'm going back to MY FRIENDS to celebrate the new year. You should do the same." I was about to walk off but he stood right in front of me, blocking my path.

"Allie. We haven't seen each other in 3 weeks and this is how you treat me? Did I do something to piss you off?"

"You did nothing. I'm happy. See..." I gave him a clearly fake smile. "Now, if you would excuse me.."

"Al, please" his voice softened. " I was really excited to know you were coming. I've missed you. I thought you had not come since I didn't see you until I saw you...um...dancing."

"Oh, well I saw you earlier but I didn't wanna bother you. You looked so comfortable over there..." I pointed at the two chairs that brought the disturbing image back into my head. "with your friends around you... and on top of you, so I just kept minding my own business. Well this had been a nice chat. Bye." I went around him but then his hand went around my arm and detained me.

"Is this what it's all about? Alex?"

"Who's Alex?"

"The blonde who was..um.. with me."

"No! Now let me go!"

"This is about her! First off, you rejected me! And secondly, I wasn't exactly enjoying watching you grope your friend in the middle of my living room!"

His face was starting to get red the more he got louder. His eyes started turning a bit of a darker color. I have to admit it was kinda hot...NO! MAD! SUPPOSED TO BE MAD!

"First, my friend, Matt and I were just dancing. It's not like he was touching my ass like someone I know! And yeah I did reject you! So that's clear! You have nothing holding you back so go and be with her!"

"You know what Allie, I could. I could go and be with Alex!"

"That's great! Thanks for announcing in my face! Bye!" Again I tried to leave but I failed once more. Fine. He wanted to fight. Let's fight.

"Again let's remind who said no. Oh yeah, you!"

" I'm not saying I didn't!"

"Then stop complaining!"

"I'm not! It's nice to know that you move on really fast though! Maybe I should warn Alex that she shouldn't get too attached."

"Do you seriously think that?!"

"We'll it sure seems that way!"

"You are unbelievable! We haven't seen each other in 3 weeks and then you see me being friendly with Alex and you go fucking crazy!"

"Friendly?! If that's friendly, I can't imagine what being handsy is like for you..." From the living room, people yelled 1 minute! Crap. Ok. Just let it out quick and be done. "You know, I was so happy that we were going back to normal. I felt that we had become really close but then, all of the sudden someone just stopped texting me. But I was like, he's probably busy so I let it go. Then when getting to LA, I found out that certain someone had already been here for a while when they told me that they would only arrive a day earlier than me. Why lie I asked? I again shrugged it off and came to this party like fucking idiot with a smile on my face, happy to see them again. When getting here, I couldn't find them until I had to go to the bathroom. Then I found that person in a very comfortable position. So why bother! I understand now. It was all for her! You needed distance, so you stopped contacting me. You probably came earlier just to see her too. Well, congratulations! I'm happy for you two!"

"I'm not with her!" His tone had changed from angry to desperate.

10

"Then go be! No one is stopping you!"

8

"Yeah there is Allie! Don't you get it! For someone who is so intellectual at points, you're being so dumb right now!" He said, earning a bit of anger back.

5

"What the hell did you just say?!"

3

"I don't want her!"

1

"I don't give a fuck who you wa-" I was suddenly stopped by a pair of lips. Not just any lips, Darren's lips. He kissed me... Holy shit, he did. This was actually happening. His lips began aggressively, due to the force created when surprisingly coming together. My lips took a few seconds to respond since I was in utter shock, telling my self to pull away. Instead, my hands automatically reached up and looped around his neck. When I started kissing him back, I felt a small smile on his lips which I reciprocated. He cupped my face with one hand and the other hand slid down to my waist, pulling us closer. God, this is so much better than I imagined it to be. Yes, I had imagined this moment... No shame! He was an outstanding kisser. He was a leader, but checked my comfort like a true gentleman. Finally, we pulled apart. I opened my eyes to find those beautiful eyes staring right back at me. I retrieved my hands and put them down to my side and just stayed looking at him. He did the same, showing a small smile. This was suddenly broken when Sam grabbed me and Joey grabbed Darren and pulled each other in separate directions into a crowd of people. When the hell did they get so close?! Weren't they just in the living room!? There was screaming, laughter, confetti being thrown around, even drinks were being thrown into the air. My friends hugged me wishing me a happy new year. I somewhat returned their hug, still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. Everything around me was a blur, a mess. The only thing I was thinking was of the pair of lips who had just kissed me. I just smiled and thanked the new year for their amazing present.


	18. Fear

"Al, you ok?" Sam whispered in my ear. After being hugged several times, I had stayed in the middle of the crowd. I had barely hugged back, since I was still in shock.

"Umm yeah. We need to talk, privately." I had to tell someone, I felt like I was about to explode if I didn't. Sam nodded, looking worried. She took my hand and led me to Joeys bedroom, where she closed the door before starting to ramble.

"This is about Darren isn't it? Oh god. I knew you were mad, but are you guys like enemies now? What happened? I'll kick him in the balls if he s-"

"We kissed"

Her eyes bugged out, but didn't say anything. She just stood there with her mouth hanging wide open, looking very confused.

"Sam..."

"Like mouth to mouth?"

"Yeah."

It was like in a split second, everything hit her and she swooped me up, jumping up and down. "Holy shit!" She let go, flashing a beautiful smile towards me. "Oh Al, when Joey and I saw you guys that close, we thought that you guys were about to rip each other's heads off. That's why we separated you guys so quickly. Damn it! We ruined the moment! But this is great! So what now? Are you guys together?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well we didn't get to talk since you guys separated us."

"Sorry about that but how were we supposed to know that you guys had kissed? Your head was about to explode with jealousy the last time I had see-"

"Shut up!"

"Al, it was so obvious. And then you using Matt. Genius!"

"I knew he would catch on and help me."

"Was Darren jealous?"

"Yup"

"So you were heated and jealous and so was he...Wait, is that how the kiss happened?"

"Kinda, well...yeah. We were both yelling and he kissed me in the middle of one of my raging sentences."

"Damn... that's intense. If that's how you start kissing I can't imagine how you guys would start get-"

"Sam!"

"I'm just saying, anyway, relationship status?"

"I mean I want to be with him, really badly. But I'm still scared. You know my reasons. Plus, I don't know what he wants."

"Al, the guy has been following you around like a puppy dog from the beginning. It's Darren. You know him enough to know that he isn't that type of guy. Give him a chance."

"I know, I'm just scared."

"You both like like each other, go for it. If you don't take risks, you might be missing out big time."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Yay! Now let's go find him!" She grabbed my hand and then reached for the door. I immediately stopped her. "Sam, PLEASE don't be so obvious."

"Relax, I won't!"

When we opened the door, we found everyone chilling out, some letting the alcohol sink in. When we spotted Darren in the corner, Sam dragged me across the living room towards them. Darren had his back towards me, talking to Joey and Steph.

"Hey guys!" Sam said, sounding a bit to excited. Oh god, here we go... At that moment Darren turned around, locking his eyes with mine. His eyes lit up and gave me a smile, which made me blush. Damn my fair skin!

"Hey! Happy New Year!" Joey said, eyeing me then Darren. Yup, he knew. Joey and Sam just stood there, smiling like idiots. Looking at us, then to each other to giggle,then back at us. And just to think that these are our best friends... At one point, Joey caught my eye and wagged his eyebrows up and down which made me burst out in laughter.

"Well, you guys can keep doing your weird telepathic shit... Al, would you like to go to the patio?" Darren asked, turning to me.

I nodded eagerly and he looked down at my hand before taking ahold of it. I let him lead me to the patio, ignoring the comments and awes that were being made from Joey and Sam.

Once we were outside, I looked through the glass door to find Joey giving me two thumbs up. Great. They were going to watch the whole thing. It had to be a glass door. Ugh, at least they can't hear us...

"Sooo... You wanna talk about it?" Darren said, making me shift my attention towards him.

"Sure... I mean if you want to."

"I do." He said, a little to fast. He smiled uncomfortably and immediately looked down, putting is hands in his pant pockets. Ugh, can he be any cuter?

"You know that I like you... Well I hope you do.." He began, " and if you didn't, I like you Al. A lot."

"I like you too."

"Really?" His head shot up, looking surprised.

"Yeah"

"I just thought, after Tahoe and our conversation and you sai-"

"It was bullshit."

"What?"

"Look Dare... I really like you. I just said all that friends crap because I was... I am scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Falling for someone." I said.

He got closer and grabbed my hands, "Why? I mean, yes it's scary, but at the same time it's a beautiful feeling."

"Because it eventually turns ugly and then they can't handle it. They leave, they all do." It was my turn to avoid his eyes. I looked down at our intertwined hands.

"What do you mean?"

"All my past relationships have ended due to my illness. After seeing how sick I got, the toll it takes on my body, and the affect it has on my surroundings, they leave. When I start falling for someone, I distance myself. I wanted to distance you from me, so you could move on. Why would you be with me when there is millions of beautiful healthy girls who won't hold you back?"

I was trying so hard to hold my tears back.

"Al, please look at me." I took a deep breath and looked up. We just look at each other for a it, looking into each other's eyes. He let go of one of my hands and rested his free hand on my cheek, caressing it with his thumb.

"Al, from the moment I met you, I knew you were something special. I just wanted to know more and more about you. And I was never disappointed with what I learned. You amaze me Al. All the things you do, all the things you aspire to do, all the things we have in common. When you told me your story, it didn't change anything. The only thing that did change was my perspective on your strength. I knew that you were strong, independent, with your own opinion that was always going to be heard, and I loved that about you. But knowing your story and then seeing how happy, hard working, and hopeful you are is unbelievable. I don't care what you have. Yeah you have a condition, but that doesn't define who you are. I don't see a ill person, I see someone who lights up my day every time they walk into the room and smile. I would never do that to you. I want to be there for you."

At this point, my face was completely covered in tears. He gently wiped my tears and pulled me in closer to kiss my forehead. Then he pulled me into a hug. This man was worth it. Yeah, I might fall, crash, burn. I might also get love, kindness, and caring. Why not give it a chance? I needed to face this fear. We pulled apart a bit, still holding each other. He started to lean in slightly but stopped, seeming hesitant. I just smiled at him and took initiative, closing the gap between our lips and kissed him.

HI GUYS, THANKS FOR READING AND PLEASE COMMENT!


	19. Status?

We were so focused on what we were doing that we didn't hear the glass door slid open.

We were suddenly attacked by hugs. I opened my eyes to see Joey, Steph, Sam, Harry, Justin, Matt, Nikki, and Abbey surrounding us with their arms around us, cheering! Sam got closer to me and pulled me into a hug.

"That was the cutest thing I have ever seen!" She said into my ear. I was about to respond when I heard Joey ask Darren, "Soooo... Relationship update?" Everyone went silent and looked at Darren. "I don't know." Darren said, which made me immediately frown. Wait, what? I thought we wer- "I haven't properly asked her." He said, turning his attention to me. Could he be any more perfect? He walked towards me and grabbed my hand, "Al, would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?" He asked. "Mmmmm..." I teased, pretending to think about it for a few seconds. Everyone around me just rolled their eyes but Darren's expectant face turned into a worried one, clearly not getting the joke.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend Dare." I finally said, smiling brightly at him. He eyes lit up in seconds, pulling me into a hug.

"Awwwwwwwwwww!" We heard from around us. We seperated a bit to lean in for a kiss, but suddenly stopped, Turing our heads towards our fruends. Everyone had leaned in, expectantly waiting for our next move.

"So... Um...let's go inside." Darren suggested, with a small frown on his face because of our unfinished business.

"Oh come on Darren just kiss her!"

"Seriously! You know you're already regretting it!"

"We all already saw you kiss, don't worry!"

"You're basically drooling, just do it!"

Oh our friends... One of a kind.

Darren looked at me uncomfortably. He eyed me to search for my approval with I gave him with a smile. When he saw that I was ok with it he smirked and then took me by the waist and pressed his lips on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled, which he returned.

"Hell yeah!"

"Now that's a kiss!"

"Al and Darren sitting in a tree..."

We broke apart and smiled at our friends. The excitement had taken over how cold it was outside. Even though we lived in LA, it was still the middle of winter. A sudden breeze came over us which made me shiver. When Darren noticed that, he put his arm around me.

"Guys, why don't we go back inside?" He asked, which everyone immediately agreed to.

We stayed their for another half hour. I spent it mostly talking to friends, never letting go of Darren's hand. I would look up at him and I would find him looking right back, making me shake my head and blush. It was 2 am and we were all ready to leave. I said my goodbyes to everyone, saving Darren for last. Once I got to him, he took me aside and pulled me into a hug.

"This was a great day." He whispered into my ear.

"Yup, great way to start the New Year"

"The best."

He leaned in for a kiss. We kissed for what seemed for hours. I still couldn't believe I was kissing him!

"Um Al, sorry to interrupt, but we have to go." Steph said, shooting me an apologetic look.

"Ok, I'll be right there." I told her and turned back to Darren. "I'll see you later." I said, resting my hands on his chest while he had his hands around my waist.

"I miss you already"

"Oh you are too cheesy."

"Oh, I know."

"Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Al" he said, before leaning in for a final quick peck.


	20. Do you trust me?

I was walking out of my editing class when my phone beeped.  
>Darren: Hey beautiful.<br>Me: Hey handsome.  
>Darren: How's your day going?<br>Me:Ok I guess... Just a bit stressed because of school:/  
>Darren: I'm sorry to hear that :( Would it help if we moved our plans for tonight to some other night? I don't want to get in the way of your school work love.<br>Me: No! It's Friday Dare and I haven't seen you in a few days! Seeing you will actually help as a distraction from all the school work.  
>Darren: hahaha ok. I'll pick you up around 7?<br>Me: Sounds good!  
>Darren: Great! Well they are calling me back to set so I'll see you soon!<br>Me: Bye Dare:)

It had been two weeks since having our New Years kiss and things couldn't be better. For the first few days we were inseparable. Mostly hanging around his place; messing around, watching movies, and kissing. Oh kissing. Every time that I kissed Darren, it felt like it was the first time. Getting all jittery and nervous beforehand, but then melting into the kiss as soon as our lips touch. The kissing part also included a lot of pillows hitting us. Thrown by either Joey and Sam, who would walk in at the most inconvenient times. I was now headed to my dorm so I could finish a bit of my paper before getting ready for my date with Darren.

I was doing my hair when Darren knocked on my door.  
>"Come in!" I said while putting in the last bobby pin.<br>"I am here to recuse you from all the stress this school has put upon you!" Darren said as he walked in, putting both fists on his hips, popping up his chest into a manly stance.  
>What a dork. But he's the cutest dork. "Are you supposed to be a superhero?" I said with a smile on my face, wrapping my arms around his neck.<br>"I was going for a prince vibe." He said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.  
>"Works for me" I said before leaning into kiss him.<br>"So, what do you have planned for this evening my handsome prince?"  
>"Well my fair maiden, it's a surprise!"<br>"Oh goodness... Should I be scared?"  
>He stepped away from me and offered me his hand, " Do you trust me?"<br>"You did not just use an Aladdin line..."  
>"Just go with it"<br>"You're amazing." I said, taking his hand.

"Where the hell are we?" I said as soon as I saw a building that looked like a castle.  
>"Well since we had the whole prince princess thing going on, I thought you might want a castle to complete the idea."  
>"Oh god."<br>"And since I didn't know any castle in LA I thought why not miniature golfing in a building that looks like a castle."  
>"Ooooooo I love miniature golfing!"<br>"Oh thank god. I was worried that you might not really be into it."  
>"Are you kidding me? I love this, plus it helps that I'm pretty good at this game."<br>"Oh really, well hate to break it to you but Im also pretty good. Hopefully no hard feelings when I win..." Darren said, shooting me a wink and then opening the door.  
>1 hour later<br>"Say it."  
>"Allie is amazing at miniature golf."<br>"And?"  
>"She kicked my ass on the first game, happy!?"<br>"Ecstatic" I said before leaning in to give him a peck on the lips. As I was pulling away,Darren pulled me back into the kiss by wrapping his arms around my waist.  
>"And that was your prize for winning" he said when he pulled away.<br>" I like winning even more now."


	21. Stress

p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Eastwick was sadly cancelled so Darren went to Michigan to participate in the Starkids new show. It had been two weeks since he left and I missed him like crazy. We had just celebrated our three month anniversary before he left. Like the the other two, we went out to dinner, watched a movie, and then fell asleep tangled in eachpthers arms. Our relationship couldn't be better. Of course we had our little arguments but they were usually about stupid things like where we wanted to eat. But now since he was in Michigan, it was becoming more and more difficult to get a hold of him. We had both been super busy which made it even worse. I was either in class, working, or working on some paper or project. For some reason, it seems like my professors all wanted to give me a shit ton of work at the same time. And Darren was either in the show, sleeping, or reminiscing his years at Michigan. It was becoming hard to be in touch with him and it had only been 2 weeks./span/p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" span/p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Hey Al" Sam said as she sat down next to me in my English seminar class.p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Hey"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""What's up?" She said as she eyed my phone in my hands.p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Just trying to get a hold of darren, but he's probably busy, so I'm not counting on it." I sighed.p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Yeah I know what you mean. It's been hard getting a hold of Joe."p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Yeah, at least only have 1 more week left and they are probably having a blast. We'll get to hear everything about it when they're done."p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Yeah I know. I just miss him"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Me too hun."p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Anyway, are we still working on the video project at 5?"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Shit! I totally forgot!"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Girl! This project is due in 2 days! We've procrastinated enough!"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""I know I'm sorry! Could we push it to 6? I have to finish my physics analysis."p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;""Yeah sure!"p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" span/p  
>p style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"It was 10 at night and I was just getting back to my dorm. I sat at my desk since my body was so numb and sore but also because I still needed to edit this video. I got onto my school email and noticed some grades had been uploaded. A D+ in Civics. Great. Just great. What an end to a horrible day. Not only had I been forgetting things here and there... I also have to get tommorow for work at 5am, Darren hasn't answered my text, and I am now failing a class. I now had the biggest headache and I felt like I was burning up. I decided that the best idea was to cool off by taking a shower so I got up to walk to the bathroom but a wave of dizziness hit me and I fell to the floor. After that I heard my roommate screaming my name but she sounded miles and miles away. I just couldn't grasp where she was coming from and that the moment where I started seespanspan style="color: #545454; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 15px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"ing black spots./span/span/p 


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